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Six Minutes to Five
In an attempt to distract herself from the excruciating pain cycling once more through her body, Bulma gripped the hospital bed sheets and turned to study the alien beside her. It was funny how un-alien he now appeared; his white cotton shirt and blue slacks were devastatingly human. She was sure that if the Vegeta she had first met on Namek could see the Vegeta she now saw, he would laugh at him, insult him, and undoubtedly deck him good (probably in the nose). How strange they should be here together, that this once genocidal, ruthless, alien killer-ape prince sat beside her, unmistakable concern in his usually cold eyes, calculating the minutes between her contractions. It was like the cheesy ending to a bad sci-fi movie. She laughed to herself as she loosened her fists and the pain subsided. "Still six minutes?" she asked weakly.
The Saiyan furrowed his brow at her unusual laughter, but did not comment on it. This whole experience was bizarre, and quite frankly, he found that whenever he did question something, it was met either with shouting, or a disgusting, discomforting answer. He nodded in response.
Bulma groaned. "This is taking forever," she complained, covering her eyes with her hands, then sliding them back through her hair.
"How long is it supposed to take?" Vegeta queried hesitantly, sure he wouldn't like the answer. They had already been at the hospital for seven hours, and his patience was growing thin with all of it. Aside from the sleep, and inevitably, training time he was going to lose, he was annoyingly concerned about how much longer his mate could sustain in her current state. Concern for his family, especially his weak human woman, was perhaps his least favorite of all feelings. In time, he had come to hate it even more than the embarrassment of being beaten…even being beaten by Kakarot.
The tired scientist shrugged, closing her eyes. "I just hope I'm past the half-way point," she replied.
"The half-way point? We have been here all night!" Vegeta growled in disbelief. Everything about Earthlings was so unbelievably obsolete.
"Gee, sorry, big plans today in the gravity room I built you ?" Bulma retorted with a ferocity that surprised even the warrior prince. She then sharply exhaled, cried out and sat up, instinctively grabbing her husband's hand and squeezing it until her knuckles turned white.
Vegeta's jaw tightened, the scene prompting a lurch in the pit of his stomach. "You can't do this for another seven hours! There's no way!" he insisted once the contraction had passed.
Realizing that her husband's disquiet was more for her health than his missed training, her expression softened. "Mom's coming a little bit, alright?" she assured him breathily, taking her hand off of his and using it to wipe a bead of sweat from her forehead. "You can leave and train with Trunks until it's over. That oughtta keep your mind off of the freaking out you're not doing," she added with a wink.
"Leave you? Like this? With your mother? You cannot be serious," the Saiyan replied, almost insulted that she would even suggest it (even if that was exactly what he had done the first time).
Bulma smiled, despite herself. The big-bad-man was pretty adorable whilst freaking out, which she noticed he did not deny doing. "Hey, you don't have to prove anything to me, got it? I know this isn't your…element," she looked up at him, distantly acknowledging how their roles felt reversed; it was usually her bent over a sick bed with concern while he swatted her away and insisted her presence was not required. She paused, then added, "and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. Really, I'm going to be ok, but you will hate everything that happens from here on out. Like really hate it, Vegeta."
Vegeta leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Hn," was his only answer, but his body language was definitive—he was staying put.
"Suit yourself," the blue-haired genius replied with a smirk, just as another wave of pain rolled through her. "YOU MISERABLY FERTILE, FRIEND MURDERING MONKEY," she added post episode.
"Five minutes," the Saiyan Prince informed her, unfazed by the insult.
